Yellow magic loop gloves

Written on 1 February 2026

Finished pair of yellow gloves, shown worn on hands

Finished pair of yellow gloves, shown laid flat

Closeup view of the slit on the index finger

I lost one of my fingerless mittens in January, so I decided to knit new gloves using yarn from my stash. This time I wanted full-finger gloves, because I can’t remember ever having a pair that fit my short fingers without flapping at the ends!

The plan

Most glove patterns call for double pointed needles, but I don’t have or want a whole set of those (I’m not even sure I have the coordonation to keep the stitches on the needles). But anything that can be knit with double pointed needles can be knit with magic loop, and I found a simple pattern on Youtube of all places.

It’s the free Magic Loop Gloves pattern by Madeline Nancy. She has another version in 5 different sizes, and another worsted-weight version in 3 different sizes.

Result

I love how the gloves turned out, and am glad I had this yarn just sitting around waiting to be transformed! (I can’t actually remember what I had originally planned for this yarn, I had 2 balls)

Details

Pattern:

Magic Loop Gloves, by Madeline Nancy (free pattern)

Size:

Adult Medium (but with finger lengths to fit my own)

Modifications:

Opening on inside index finger for touch screen use

Needles:

2.5mm circular needle

Yarn:

46g of Drops Baby Alpaca Silk, in wheat (1 skein)

Gauge:

2.5cm = 8 stitches / 12 rows

Dimensions

Measurements taken flat, after washing/drying.

Wrist: 7cm
Palm: 8cm * 10cm
Index finger: 6cm
Middle finger: 7cm
Ring finger: 6cm
Little finger: 5cm
Thumb: 5cm

Project notes

01.02.2026

Very sick with flu and very stressed out too, so decided to try a small knitting project to keep me distracted. Did a quick flat swatch with 2.5mm needles (not washed). Gauge not perfect, but good enough.

Unravelled swatch, did a long tail cast on 56 stitches with 2.5mm needles (using this cast on video tutorial).

Knit 2x2 ribbing for 5cm. That first row where we join the round is always so tricky for me!

Kept forgetting where I was at during thumb gusset increases, but we got there in the end.

Glove knitting in progress: thumb gusset completed

02.02.2026

Tiny magic loops for fingers. Knit straight up until finger measured 3 rows away from the top, then did the decreases. Misjudged length on last 2 fingers (glove palm is square but hand palm is round) so unravelled partially to do them again.

Wove in all the yarn ends only once I’d finished knitting the whole glove. Terribly messy work. But we have a finished glove!

03.02.2026

Cast on for the second glove. Messed up the joining round twice and had to do it again.

Thumb gusset increases were better today.

One and a half gloves: second glove still on the needles

Decided to create some kind of opening on the index finger, so I can use my phone and watch. Not sure whether to cast off like a fingerless, then pick up stitches to knit some kind of hood over the top, or just leave a buttonhole opening…

04.02.2026

Created a buttonhole slit for index opening: cast off 6 stitches, knit the rest of the round, then cast back on 6 stitches using backwards loop. But once I’d finished the finger I realised I made the slit too low, so had to unravel and do it again.